A French jihadist who fought for Al-Nusra and Islamic State in Syria since 2013 and who is UN blacklisted apparently feels pangs of remorse. He is being held in a Turkish jail and has asked France to take him back, along with several relatives, French media reported.

The French citizen, whose name hasn’t been revealed to the media, joined Al-Nusra front in Syria back in 2013, France’s BFM TV reported. Later he joined Islamic State terrorists and allegedly made quite ‘a career’ within their ranks.

The extremist was allegedly working in jihadists’ finance affairs and also recruited women for terrorist groups. He even reportedly managed to recruit one of his wives the same way. According to BFM TV’s information, he was put on a UN terror blacklist.

However, recently the 23-year-old jihadist seemed to have become disillusioned with the group. He decided to go back to his motherland, France. And not alone – he was planning to make it with his four wives and seven children.

While in Syria, the jihadist contacted the French authorities and explained that he could not stand “the sickness” of the Islamic State terrorists and regretted his actions.

The man was detained at the Syrian-Turkish border. Now he is being kept in a Turkish jail, reportedly along with his big family.

Ankara reportedly refused his extradition to France. The man contacted a lawyer in France, explaining that it is hard for his family to stay in jail and some of his children are just months old.

He reportedly explained that his kids were born on Syrian soil but have no birth certificates as they were born in a state that is not recognized by France. He was apparently referring to Islamic State.

According to BFM TV, French services are considering negotiating with Ankara to try and bring the seven children of the jihadist to France where they can receive benefits and be placed in a nursery or with a host family.